Background

Labor migration is an issue that resonates not only in the entire South East Asian region but also across the globe with an estimated 200 million migrants today. The movement of labor is undoubtedly brought forth by the sweeping political and economic changes that warrant swift and almost knee-jerk reactions from the working population that necessarily search for more secure and profitable sources of living abroad. In an increasingly interdependent and integrated international labor market and economy, migration has now become an urgent concern for both migrants and their families, sending and receiving countries, and hopefully, regional parliamentarians and civil society representatives committed to work for the protection and promotion of rights of migrant workers.

During the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, ASEAN proudly released the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.  The Declaration is considered a landmark document as it elaborates on the obligations of both countries of origin and destination to provide protection for all migrant workers.

This Declaration is an important first step in ensuring the protection of the rights and well being of migrant workers in ASEAN. However, the Declaration, while it comprehensively defines obligations for both receiving and sending countries and outlines the commitments of ASEAN, is short of a policy and remains unsatisfactory, as it is not an instrument that can be implemented.

It is to this end that all stakeholders must tirelessly take ASEAN Member Countries to account for the commitments and aspirations raised and reflected in this Declaration. The Parliaments need to be more involved and invested in this process as well. Members of Parliament in the region, however, remain to a large extent at the margins of both the discourse as well as the policy framework for addressing and implementing the principles enshrined in the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

This is, therefore, an opportune moment to engage Members of Parliament to play a critical role in their respective national policy making, overseeing their respective government’s adherence with and compliance to regional and international commitments and treaties, and exercising their respective capacities and mandate in shaping and steering both discourse and advocacy with regard to the protection and promotion of the rights of migrant workers.

It is with the context of building working relationships between Parliamentarians and Civil Society Representatives that the organizers of this conference seek to establish spaces for dialogue and exchange, find convergence in action plans and advocacies, and forge commitments in effectively addressing and implementing the principles enshrined in the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

Project Description

The project aims to convene a regional conference involving parliamentarians, civil society representatives, and various stakeholders in ASEAN to discuss how to push forward the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers and to build future initiatives to implement substantial actions that promote the rights of migrants. The ASEAN governments have yet to come up with a concrete plan on how to implement the Declaration. The proposed meeting will be convened for Members of Parliament, civil society representatives, and various stakeholders to come up with a multi-stakeholder agenda on how to implement the Declaration. The consultation will set the ASEAN governments to task in terms of securing Member Country’s commitments in signing the Declaration.

The meeting will be a two-day event in Bangkok, Thailand on 13-14 March 2008. Arrival of participants will be on March 12 and departure will be on March 15. The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), South East Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA), and Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) will be responsible for the coordination and implementation of the program.

Objectives

1.      To understand the context of labor migration in South East Asia by providing and exchanging relevant information and recent developments on the issue;

2.      To address the various policy challenges on migration by creating and facilitating linkages among various stakeholders (i.e. members of Parliament in South East Asia, international and regional organizations, governments, civil society groups, and trade unions);

3.      To identify convergences in priority advocacies and action plans by presenting and evaluating initiatives and experiences on migrant workers’ concerns; and

4.      To forge concrete proposals by presenting targets, time frames, and action-based programs and initiatives that will address the urgent concerns on labor migration in South East Asia.

Expected Output

A multi-stakeholder strategy plan to implement the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers – the program of action will look into how governments, civil society organizations, and trade unions can work together in implementing the ASEAN Declaration on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers. It will include concrete collaborative activities involving civil society, trade unions, and governments to implement the Declaration.

The program of action will also look into considering the needs of women migrant workers and ensuring the protection and promotion of their rights. This process is a follow through of the declaration, putting to task the governments in their commitments in signing the Declaration.

Conference Participants

Participating in the conference will be former and incumbent legislators/members of parliaments or parliamentary staff from ASEAN (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam), representatives from CALD member parties and observers, representatives from international and regional organizations, migrant non-government organizations, trade unions, and the academe.

Conference Organizers

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD), the sole umbrella of liberal and democratic parties in Asia, is the first regional organization of Asian political parties. CALD provides a forum for sustained discussions on developments occurring in the region as a whole. It creates a gathering of stakeholders to assess liberal solutions to political, economic, social and cultural challenges.

The South East Asian Committee for Advocacy (SEACA) is a programme that focuses on advocacy capacity building of civil society organizations (CSOs) in South East Asia. The SEACA programme is an outcome of a series of consultation processes among CSOs in the South East Asian region and a meeting in Manila in September 1999 attended by representatives of national networks of NGOs and People’s Organizations from eight countries in the region, and Asian regional networks sponsored by the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) and supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom.

The Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) is a regional network of non-government organizations (NGOs), associations and trade unions of migrant workers, and individual advocates in Asia who are committed to protect and promote the rights and welfare of migrant workers. MFA believes that migrants' rights are human rights. Documented or undocumented, irrespective of race, gender, class, age and religious belief, migrant workers' rights are guaranteed by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Protection of Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and other international conventions.